


the ocean collective

by ben_jaded



Category: Aquaman (2018)
Genre: Character Study, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-09-26 00:44:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17131820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ben_jaded/pseuds/ben_jaded
Summary: He is failing his Queen.





	1. vulko

**Author's Note:**

> I saw Aquaman yesterday and I am craving young Orm and tween Arthur interaction. 
> 
> No beta because I needed to get this off my chest.

The sound of clashing steel echoes through the training room as Vulko oversees Prince Orm’s combat training lessons. He watches critically, circling the young prince clad in armor of silver and purple before advancing. His attack is brutal yet controlled, more a test of Orm’s perseverance under the brute strength of his blows than anything else. Though he is small in stature — a child still, younger than Arthur had been when Vulko had started instructing him — he holds his own. He is an Atlantean of royal blood and they are inhumanly strong, built for battle; Vulko expects nothing less. 

“My Prince," he says, stopping the training exercise, "that is enough for today.” Vulko lowers his hand, pulls Orm to his feet from where he had fallen. 

The young prince Orm, is a spitting image of his mother, all pale blond hair and light blue eyes. His face is an expressionless mask betraying nothing of his pain or exhaustion. And for once, Vulko is glad that the King has decided not to attend this session. Prince Orm didn’t need his father there, sneering and mocking when he was bested in training. 

The king has been cruel to this child which reminds him of his wife. And there is only so much that Vulko can do. He knows that the young prince cries less and less for his mother as his father continues to fill his head with whispers that she was nothing but a traitor to her people and to the throne, that she loved her bastard son more than she would have ever loved him.

Vulko knows that this is untrue. Atlanna loved both of her children. The last thing Vulko wants is for Atlanna’s children to hate her, to forget her. 

Orm is so stoic now, becoming less of the smiling brilliant child so filled with warmth and laughter before his mother had been sacrificed to the Trench. 

Vulko knows there is not much he can do in his position to combat the King’s cruelty. But he knows that if nothing is done, there will be nothing left of that child whom Atlanna loved.

Arthur’s face — his golden eyes filled with devastation and guilt — haunt him. 

He is failing his Queen.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun rises high in the sky, beating steadily on Arthur’s arms and legs as he sits atop the cliff overlooking the place where Vulko had given him his first swimming lesson. He stares down the jagged cliff into the ocean, and its angry foamy waves hit against the rising cliffs, the Atlantean’s words replay in his mind. His mother is dead, sacrificed to the Trench all because of him. Because she’d dared to love his father and have him. How long had Vulko been keeping this from him? Had it been from the very beginning or during? How had he been able to face Arthur — lying to him — day in and day out, telling him that all he needed to do is learn one more thing and then he’d be allowed to meet his mother? How had he done it? 

Arthur’s fingers dig into the dirt, feeling the grass and rocks give way beneath the strength of his fingers. 

Turning once more toward the ocean, an ever-increasing sense of loss rises up within him as if it came from the depths of the sea itself, dark and cold, chilling him.

His mother is dead, and it’s his fault. There’s no tip-toeing around it anymore. It wouldn’t matter how much he trained to gain her approval, she’s never coming back. 

The rustling of footsteps rouses him from his thoughts. Arthur turns, and there’s Vulko dressed all in black. And all at once the anger is rushing through him—Vulko has been lying to him for who knows how long. For what? So Arthur could become king to a people who despised him enough to execute his mother for having him? 

“What are you doing here?” he asks through gritted teeth. 

Vulko looks apologetic. Guilty, as if he knows Arthur’s two seconds away from cursing him out. 

“I have brought someone to meet you.”

Out from behind Vulko is a child. He’s a small kid, all pale skin, his face a blank mask. He’s dressed like Vulko in a dark jumpsuit which under the midday sun reflects purple. 

“This is Orm Marius,” Vulko says as he places both hands on the kid’s slim shoulders. 

Arthur knows from his lessons that only Atlanteans of royal blood can breathe on the surface. And though he’s still angry at the man who has been his mentor — a part of him wants to tell Vulko to fuck off; he wants nothing to do with Atlantis, much less a kid — he knows Vulko isn’t the type to make introductions unless it means something. 

This kid is important. 

Arthur finds himself crouching down to greet him. “Hi,” he says as he offers the kid his hand, “I’m Arthur.”

When Arthur meets his gaze, his heart lurches, and his mouth goes dry at the intense glacial gray of his eyes. Those eyes hold a curiosity to them as he eyes Arthur’s hand. 

He can see it now. He’s stared at the pictures of his mother long enough to have memorized the ice-blue of her eyes, the white blond of her hair, the porcelain of her skin. That’s his mother’s hair. Her eyes. The narrowness of her face. 

This is his little brother. 

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” his little brother replies in his tiny voice as he gingerly takes Arthur’s hand into his own.

Taking in that solemn stoic little face, Arthur vows to make him smile. He may have lost his mother, but he’s gained a brother and he would let nothing separate them again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took so long><
> 
> the next and final part will actually be longer. Just Arthur and Orm on a playdate cuz I need it.


End file.
